4 Brain computer interface for paralysis

Intracortically-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (iBCIs) are poised to revolutionize our ability to restore lost neurologic functions. By recording high resolution neural activity from the brain, the intention to move ones hand can be detected and decoded in real- time, potentially providing people with motor neuron disease (ALS), stroke, or spinal cord injury with restored or maintained ability to control communication devices, assistive technologies, and their own limbs. iBCIs also are central to the development of closed-loop neuromodulation systems, with great potential to serve people with neuropsychiatric disorders. A multi-site pilot clinical trial of the investigational BrainGate system is assessing the feasibility of people with tetraplegia controlling a computer cursor and other devices simply by imagining the movement of their own arm or hand. This presentation will review some of the recent progress made in iBCIs, the information that can be decoded from ensembles of cortical or subcortical neurons in real-time, and the challenges and opportunities for restorative neurotechnologies in research and clinical practice.